bill letting Edwards Aquifer counties block new MUDs

The text as introduced · 881 words

89R9940 JBD-F

By: Zwiener
H.B. No. 3139

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of a county overlying the Edwards Aquifer

to approve the creation of and issuance of bonds by a municipal

utility district.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 54.001, Water Code, is amended by adding

Subdivision (10) to read as follows:

(10) "Edwards Aquifer" has the meaning assigned by

Section 26.046.

SECTION 2. Section 54.0161(a), Water Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) This section applies only to a proposed district :

(1) all of which is to be located outside the corporate

limits of a municipality ; and

(2) no part of which is to be located in a county that

contains a portion of the Edwards Aquifer .

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Water Code, is amended

by adding Section 54.0166 to read as follows:

Sec. 54.0166. NOTICE AND CONSENT OF COUNTY FOR DISTRICT

OVERLYING EDWARDS AQUIFER. (a) This section applies only to a

proposed district:

(1) all of which is to be located outside the corporate

limits of a municipality; and

(2) any part of which is to be located in a county that

contains a portion of the Edwards Aquifer.

(b) Promptly after a petition is filed with the commission

to create a district to which this section applies, the commission

shall notify the commissioners court of any county in which the

proposed district is to be located.

(c) The commissioners court of a county in which the

proposed district is to be located may review the petition for

creation and other evidence and information relating to the

proposed district that the commissioners consider necessary.

Petitioners for the creation of a district shall submit to the

county commissioners court any relevant information requested by

the commissioners court.

(d) A proposed district may not be created and include land

in a county to which this section applies unless the commissioners

court of the county adopts a measure by majority vote stating that

the county does not object to the inclusion of the land in the

district. The commission by rule may adopt a deadline for the

commissioners court of a county to object to the creation of a

district for the purposes of this section. The commission may not

approve a petition to create a district to which this section

applies if the commissioners court of the county objects under this

subsection.

(e) The commissioners court of a county may request from the

commission any information necessary for the purposes of this

section.

SECTION 4. Section 54.5161, Water Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as

follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), before [ Before ]

the commission gives final approval on any bond issue for the

purpose of financing a project of a district located wholly or

partly outside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a city, the

commission shall notify the county commissioners of the county in

which the district is located that an application has been filed and

give the county an opportunity within 30 days after notification to

examine all information on file and submit a written opinion from

the commissioners court stating any findings, conclusions, or other

information that the commissioners court considers important to the

commission's final determination.

(c) Before the commission gives final approval on any bond

issue for the purpose of financing a project of a district to which

Section 54.0166 applies, in addition to the requirements of

Subsections (a) and (b), the commission shall provide the

commissioners court of the county an opportunity to reject the bond

issue through a measure adopted by a majority vote of the

commissioners court. The commissioners court of a county may

request from the commission any information necessary for the

purposes of this section. The commission may not give final

approval to a bond issue rejected by the commissioners court of a

county under this subsection.

SECTION 5. (a) Section 54.0166, Water Code, as added by

this Act, applies only to a petition for the creation of a municipal

utility district filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental

Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. A petition for

the creation of a municipal utility district filed with the Texas

Commission on Environmental Quality before the effective date of

this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the petition

was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that

purpose.

(b) Section 54.0166, Water Code, as added by this Act, does

not affect the validity of a municipal utility district created by

the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before the effective

date of this Act.

(c) Section 54.5161, Water Code, as amended by this Act,

applies only to an application submitted to the Texas Commission on

Environmental Quality under that section on or after the effective

date of this Act. An application submitted to the Texas Commission

on Environmental Quality under Section 54.5161, Water Code, before

the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on

that date, and the former law is continued in effect for that

purpose.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.